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Ocean Data and Information Network for Africa (ODINAFRICA)

ï¿½The Ocean Data and Information Network for Africa (ODINAFRICA) brings together marine related institutions from twenty five (25) Member States of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO from Africa.The earlier phases of development of ODINAFRICA aimed at enabling member states from Africa to get access to data available in other data centres, develop skills for manipulation of data and preparation of data and information products, and develop infrastructure for archival, analysis and dissemination of the data and information products. The goal of the current phase of ODINAFRICA is to improve data flows into the national oceanographic data and information centres in the participating countries, develop data and information products required for integrated management of the coastal areas of Africa, and increase the delivery of services to end users.

1. Algeria
2. Angola
3. Benin
4. Cameroon
5. Comores
6. Congo
7. Cote D'Ivoire
8. Egypt
9. Gabon
10. Ghana
11. Guinea
12. Kenya
13. Madagascar ï¿½

ï¿½14. Mauritania
15. Maurtitius
16. Morocco
17. Mozambique
18. Namibia
19. Nigeria
20. Senegal
21. Seychelles
22. South Africa
23. Tanzania
24. Togo
25. Tunisia

The network has assisted the Member States to establish and operate National Oceanographic Data and Information centres, and in particular: to get access to data available in other data centres, develop skills for manipulation of data and preparation of data and information products, and develop infrastructure for archival, analysis and dissemination of the data and information products. Each of the participating institutions has developed a suite of data and information products that have been quality controlled, merged and availed through project website (www.odinafrica.org). These include: Directories of marine and freshwater professionals,ï¿½ Catalogues of marine related data sets, Marine Species data bases, library catalogues, catalogue of marine related publications from/about Africa.

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ï¿½ODINAFRICA Coordinators at UNESCO Nairobi Office Office during a
Project Management Committee meeting

The three thematic work packages being implemented in the current phase of ODINAFRICA are: (i) Coastal Ocean Observing System, focusing on upgrading and expanding African network of sealevel stations,ï¿½ provision of near real-time observations of ocean variables, and building adequate capacity for analysis and management of sea-state variables. New tide gauges have been installed in Pointe Noire (Congo), Djibouti (Djibouti), Takoradi (Ghana), and Nouakchott (Mauritania) within the framework of ODINAFRICA. Additional stations have been upgraded at Port Louis and Rodrigues (Mauritius), Mombasa and Lamu (Kenya), Inhambane and Pemba (Mozambique) though the Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System and the Global Sea Level Observing System. Data from these stations is available online through the ODINAFRICA Sea Level Data Facility that has been established at the IODE Project Office in Ostende, Belgium. Other stations that will be installed by ODINAFRICA include: Limbe (Cameroon), Alexandria (Egypt), Nosy Be (Madagascar), Casablanca (Morocco), and Dakar (Senegal). Locations in Cote dï¿½Iovoire, Tanzania and Tunisia will also be considered. A training course on sea level measurements and interpretation was organized jointly by ODINAFRICA and GLOSS at the IODE Project office from 13-23 November 2006 and attended by 15 participants from countries participating in ODINAFRICA.

(ii) Data and Information Management, focusing on further development and strengthening of National Oceanographic Data Centres (NODC) to manage data streams from the coastal ocean observing network, and Integrating biogeographic and hydrological data steams into NODC systems. NODCs have been established or reactivated in all the five (5) IOC member states that joined the network in the current phase (Algeria, Angola, Congo, Egypt, and Namibia). These were provided with equipment, software, training, as well as funding to enable them commence their operations. ODINAFRICA has continued to provide support to institutions hosting the NODCs to enable them develop a core set of data and information products. These include but not limited to: library catalogues, catalogues of data national data sets and data sources (meta databases), directories of marine and freshwater professionals, directories of marine related institutions, marine data archives and marine biodiversity databases. Two workshops have been organized for mobilization of data for development of data bases on marine molluscs (13-22 March 2006), and sponges (6-16 November 2006). Data managers from the ODINAFRICA institutions have participated in training courses organized by the IODE Project office and covering diverse topics such as advanced data management, application of remote sensing and GIS to coastal management, modeling and data management, marine biodiversity data management and development of websites. National NODC websites have been developed as a means for publisizing and dissemination of services and products.

(iii) Product Development and end user communication and information delivery, focusing on identification of end users of marine/coastal data/information products and their requirements, identification and development of set of core products to be prepared by each NODC, development of the African Marine Atlases, improvement of atmospheric and oceanic monitoring databases, promotion and dissemination of outputs of the project, and assessment of the impacts of products on the end-user.

The development of marine biodiversity databases commenced with work on databases for Molluscs and sponges. Other taxa that will be considered include decapods.

The African Marine Atlas - initiated in 2006 to synthesize geospatial data products for the African continent (emphasizing especially the marine and coastal environment).ï¿½ The Atlas incorporates existing geo-referenced datasets available in the public domain (but tailored to meet specific scope requirements), and also data products created from national and international marine data collections by scientists participating in the ODINAFRICA program of capacity building projects. The atlas can be accessed at www.africanmarineatlas.net

Find out more about the Atlas HERE

For more information about ODINAFRICA visit the website at http://www.odinafrica.org .

Details: Created on: Saturday, 16 December 2006 18:27; Last Updated on: Monday, 01 July 2013 12:20